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Help[Opinions] Native American Historical Fantasy Novel - Accuracy of Names
Writing a work of fiction, but wanting accuracy in depicting the Sioux. There are many characters in this pre-explored North America book. I am wondering if there is any likelihood for a tribe to have gained names from surrounding tribes. For instance Montana and the majority of those 12 tribes. Would the Sioux ever have adopted a Crow, Cree, Chippewa, or Cheyenne name? I want to be historically accurate though the story itself holds no truth. Is it possible for a Sioux member to have a name from one of the others tribes, or in no way would this have ever happened? It is important to me to portray this story with the utmost respect. Is there any disrespect in "creating" names since the timeline to this story goes back so far? Kind regards!
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Tribal names usually depict a portion of the person's character. For instance, my Potawatomi name is Jibek Kwe. It means Root Woman and depicts my love for my family as the root of their strengths.vso whatever your character's strength is use that as the name.
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No, a Sioux (Lakota? Dakota? Oglalla? Not just Sioux.) would not have a name from another group. Even if some member of another tribe/group somehow became one of them, that person would take or be given a different name.
Don't try to make up a name; I mean, you can use English word names, like Little Buffalo or Spotted Hawk, if you want to. But don't try to make up names that sound like they could be Indian names, because it's like uttering some vaguely Italian-sounding sounds and calling it a made-up Italian name. The Sioux (and all the other groups) didn't just randomly give their kids or themselves pretty-sounding collections of sounds. Names were chosen carefully and often changed over a person's lifetime to reflect their experiences and achievements.
You don't have to be able to speak the language to name accurately; if you used English phrases as names, it would be understood by your readers that these pre-contact people weren't actually calling each other Little Buffalo or Spotted Hawk in English.
Just don't fall into the trap of a lot of young kids and try to put together first, middle and last names!
Don't try to make up a name; I mean, you can use English word names, like Little Buffalo or Spotted Hawk, if you want to. But don't try to make up names that sound like they could be Indian names, because it's like uttering some vaguely Italian-sounding sounds and calling it a made-up Italian name. The Sioux (and all the other groups) didn't just randomly give their kids or themselves pretty-sounding collections of sounds. Names were chosen carefully and often changed over a person's lifetime to reflect their experiences and achievements.
You don't have to be able to speak the language to name accurately; if you used English phrases as names, it would be understood by your readers that these pre-contact people weren't actually calling each other Little Buffalo or Spotted Hawk in English.
Just don't fall into the trap of a lot of young kids and try to put together first, middle and last names!
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I am a non-Indigenous individual, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I am also a writer however, and have included First Nations peoples in my work. I would highly suggest trying to get in contact with someone from the Sioux nation that you are writing about, they may be able to help you with finding resources and answer some of your questions.
My gut feeling, (again, not Indigenous) is that making up names might not be such a great idea unless you are really familiar with the elements of Siouan language and the elements that would have gone into making a name.
If you do contact someone for help with your research, always remember to compensate your sensitivity readers!
My gut feeling, (again, not Indigenous) is that making up names might not be such a great idea unless you are really familiar with the elements of Siouan language and the elements that would have gone into making a name.
If you do contact someone for help with your research, always remember to compensate your sensitivity readers!
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If you're not familiar with the language and how names were constructed, you might inadvertently give your hunky hero a "name" that means something like "stomachache" in his language, or worse, "pencil sharpener" in some totally unrelated language.
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